Thursday, February 6th 2025
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 FE Buyer Receives Mislabeled Card, Engraved with "5090"
As documented on the Linus Tech Tips (LTT) subreddit, a lucky customer presented their freshly-delivered Founders Edition (FE) GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card model. Newly registered member, EssDee3D, had much to celebrate—having acquired launch stock, presumably at a non-scalped price—but they were confused by their package's contents. A question was pushed out to the LTT community: "can someone explain what happened here? Direct from NVIDIA...I ordered an RTX 5080, and I got a graphics card with 5090 engraved on it. The outer box has the 5080 SKU on it. Wondering if anyone else has seen something like this before?" Unique circumstances—possibly caused by a mix-up during the manufacturing process—have produced an oddball hybrid. EssDee3D proceeded to add this curiosity to their PC build—following an absorption of (very mixed) feedback from other LTT members. Basic diagnostics—performed in a Windows OS environment—revealed that the card in question housed a bog-standard GeForce RTX 5080 GB203-based GPU.
NVIDIA's two Founders Edition shroud designs—for its GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 SKUs—look nigh identical. TechPowerUp's resident graphics card reviewer extraordinaire—W1zzard—captured a handful of comparison shots for usage in his evaluation of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition model. The GeForce RTX 5090 FE's cooling solution—utilizing liquid metal, instead of thermal paste—is more robust when compared to the one present on its step-down sibling—rated for a TDP of 575 W (versus 360 W). Evidently, designed to temper any radiance emitted by Team Green's GB202 GPU. EssDee3D's "chimera" card was placed in the correct packaging; a 5080-labelled paper-fiber box—but the shroud's backside advertises itself as a GeForce RTX 5090 FE. PC hardware news outlets and Redditors are wondering whether additional examples—of jumbled up "Blackwell" GPU Founders Edition parts—will appear online over the next month or two, or three...or more.
EssDee3D uploaded a short form follow-up video on YouTube:
Sources:
LinusTechTips Subreddit, OC3D News, Tom's Hardware
NVIDIA's two Founders Edition shroud designs—for its GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 SKUs—look nigh identical. TechPowerUp's resident graphics card reviewer extraordinaire—W1zzard—captured a handful of comparison shots for usage in his evaluation of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition model. The GeForce RTX 5090 FE's cooling solution—utilizing liquid metal, instead of thermal paste—is more robust when compared to the one present on its step-down sibling—rated for a TDP of 575 W (versus 360 W). Evidently, designed to temper any radiance emitted by Team Green's GB202 GPU. EssDee3D's "chimera" card was placed in the correct packaging; a 5080-labelled paper-fiber box—but the shroud's backside advertises itself as a GeForce RTX 5090 FE. PC hardware news outlets and Redditors are wondering whether additional examples—of jumbled up "Blackwell" GPU Founders Edition parts—will appear online over the next month or two, or three...or more.
29 Comments on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 FE Buyer Receives Mislabeled Card, Engraved with "5090"
Guys can go ahead and hate on the new hardware all they want.
Old hardware awaits..
Likely, will end up being worth way more than any 5090.
Oh, were you being sarcastic? I wasn't.
Can we still be friends? :)
The legality of keeping it will vary across the world, but I think in the UK (I'm sure other places, too), technically, it doesn't belong to the 'owner.' The contract (what they entered when ordering) was for a 5080. So they're not legally the owner of the 5090. The company has the right to ask for it back, but would need to pay shipping and arrange everything at the buyers convenience. Mistakes happen, but that's what contracts are for. I know companies will try to screw people over, but it doesn't make it right.
I ordered a camera a couple of years back and got two sent out (shipping error). I wasn't sure then if it was right to keep it, so I contacted them. They arranged pick up, and I think I got a thank you (and maybe a discount for my next purchase.) My mate ordered two chairs (£500 each), but one was the wrong colour. He contacted them to say, and they said 'keep it,' AND sent the right colour. Lucky bastard.
Oops. Misread article
Not really a news worthy event.
Good thing that you can't change bioses now, one part change and one bios flash and you'll be wandering why you only get 50% of FPS on your second hand flagship.
:p
www.bbc.com/bbcthree/article/f46a1a5a-2aa2-44ae-a80c-f8eaca5b1035
:kookoo: